Shipping package that converts into a backpack

ABSTRACT

A convertible envelope is adapted to be used as a shipping container and then converted to a carrying bag. The envelope has a foldable bag with an open top, front and back panels and closed side and bottom edges. The bag is intended to be shipped in folded configuration and held therein by releasable securements. The open top is covered by a top flap which has one edge portion removably secured to either the front panel or the back panel and another edge portion which carries adhesive for sealing the envelope. The envelope can have a draw string and grommets for use as a back pack or handles for use as a tote bag.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to small shipping packages or delivery envelopes. More specifically, the present invention relates to small shipping packages for envelopes that convert into backpacks or tote bags with straps or handles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern commerce relies extensively on delivery of items in shipping envelopes to consumers and businesses. The delivery of these envelopes may be by United States mail or commercial contract parcel carriers and the envelopes may carry advertising materials, purchased items, or gifts. Generally speaking, the envelopes are opened and then discarded by the recipient. The idea of further using an envelope after it has been delivered has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,581,886 which issued on Sep. 1, 2009 to Robert Anthony Nitti for “Shipping Bag Reversible into a Tote.” The Nitti shipping bag is a bag which may be reversed to provide a plastic-lined, textile tote bag for continued use by the recipient. The Nitti bag permits the user to have continuing use of the bag after it has been used for shipment. The recipient of the Nitti bag can turn the shipping bag inside out to convert the bag to a fabric tote bag with a plastic inner lining.

Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,461, issued Dec. 6, 1994 to Smith et al. for “Carrying Bag Convertible into an Envelope.” The Smith et al patent is directed to a bag which a trade show attendee can use to gather and carry information from the various vendors at the trade show. The attendee can then convert the bag to an envelope for shipping the information back to the attendee's home or office.

Although the Nitti patent and the earlier Smith et al. patent teach multiple use envelopes, there remains room for improvements. In particular, it would be desirable to improve a convertible envelope so that it can better carry logos, promotional material or decorations with improved appearance and without interference with the mailing purpose of the envelope. Also, it would be desirable to have an envelope that can be converted into a bag which is larger than the envelope. It would also be desirable to have a convertible envelope which has a removable sealing flap and a removable mailing label so that material printed thereon can be used for advertising, decorative or mailing purposes and then removed from a “converted” envelope which is a back pack or bag intended for a second, different use than the mailing or shipping envelope.

The present invention provides a shipping envelope which is economical to manufacture and which can be readily converted to a carrying bag or backpack without turning it inside out as is required by the Nitti envelope. The present invention avoids the use of a separate plastic lining, which may not be required for the use of the envelope or its conversion. Furthermore, the envelope of the present invention is especially useful for marketing purposes. It employs a removable flap which can carry advertising material and a removable shipping label, each of which can be easily removed and discarded by the recipient. The backpack version of the envelope is especially useful for youth or anyone desiring to have a backpack. The bag can be quite large but is folded to be reduced in size for shipping use as an envelope.

The many advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following disclosure taken in conjunction with the claims appended hereto and the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A convertible envelope is adapted to be used as a shipping container and then converted to a carrying bag such as a back pack or tote bag. The envelope comprises a foldable bag with front and back panels, an open top and a closed bottom. The bag is intended to be shipped in folded configuration and is held therein during its shipping use by releasable securements along side edges of the front and back panels. The open top is covered by a top flap which has one edge portion preferably removably secured to either the front panel or the back panel by stitching and another edge portion removably secured to the other of the front and back panels by adhesive. The envelope can have strap handles, a draw string and/or grommets.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in the form of an envelope which can be converted into a backpack;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the envelope of FIG. 1 showing the envelope in an unfolded and unsealed configuration;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is sectional view similar to that of FIG. 3, but showing the envelope in open configuration; and

FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention in the form of an envelope which can be converted into a tote bag.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, a preferred embodiment of a convertible envelope of the present invention is shown and indicated generally by the numeral 10. Envelope 10 is intended to be used as a shipping or mailing envelope and then converted for use as a back pack.

Envelope 10 comprises a bag 12 which is constructed in folded out form and then is folded into an envelope with an open top. Items to be mailed or shipped, such as brochures, advertising materials, or other documents can be placed into the open interior of the envelope for mailing or shipping. The open top of the envelope can be sealed with a sealing flap. After the envelope is mailed, shipped, or otherwise used as a carrying envelope, it can be converted into a carrying bag such as a back pack or tote bag. It is intended that the recipient of the envelope will first open it to remove its contents and then tear off the sealing flap and the mailing label to convert the envelope into a back pack. Logos or other decorative material can be silk screened or printed onto the envelope. In particular, such decorative material can be placed on the sealing strip and/or back panel so as to not interfere with its use as a mailing envelope. Envelope 10 can be of various sizes but must be suitably sized if it is to be used as a mailing envelope. However, because bag 12 is folded into envelope form as described in more detail below, bag 12 can have a substantially larger interior than envelope 10.

Generally speaking, envelope 10 comprises a bag 12, removable sealing flap 14, mailing label 16 and draw string 18.

Bag 12 has a front panel 20 and a back panel 22. Back panel 22 has a logo or other decoration 24 screen printed or otherwise placed thereon. Front panel 20 and back panel 22 are secured to each other along their respective side and bottom edges by stitching 26, 28, and 30. Of course, the edges of panels 20 and 22 may alternatively be attached by adhesive or other suitable means. The top edge portion 32 of front panel 20 is folded over and stitched to form a tube or channel 34 to carry draw string 18. The top edge portion 36 of back panel 22 is likewise folded over and stitched to form a tube or channel 38 to carry draw string 18. A pair of grommets 40 and 42 are attached in a conventional manner to lower corners 44 and 46 of bag 12 and through holes 48 and 50 in bag 12 are provided for draw string 18 during use of bag 12 as a back pack.

Sealing flap 14 has one edge portion 48 secured to front panel 20 by stitching 50. The opposite edge portion 52 of sealing flap 14 carries adhesive tape 54. It is intended that adhesive tape 54 will have one side permanently adhesively or otherwise secured to edge portion 52 of sealing flap 14 with its other side covered by a release tape which is intended to be removed to expose adhesive when flap 14 is to be used to seal envelope 10. Stitching 50 is preferably chain stitching or the like so that flap 14 can be easily torn off front panel 20 for conversion of envelope 10 into a back pack. Alternatively, but less preferably, sealing flap 14 can be removably adhesively secured to front panel 20.

Mailing label 16 is a sheet of material suitable for printing of an address and is attached to front panel 20 by stitching 56. Preferably, mailing label 16 is secured to front panel 20 by chain stitching 56 or the like which is strong enough to retain the label onto panel 20 during shipping but weak enough to allow the user to rip the mailing label from panel 20 for conversion of envelope 10 into a back pack. Of course alternate suitable means, such as adhesive means, may be used to secure mailing label 16 to panel 20.

Draw string 18 may comprise one, two or more rope-like strings which are threaded through tubular channels 34 and 38. During use of envelope 10 as a shipping envelope, the loose ends of string 18 can be stored in the interior of bag 12. During use of envelope 10 as a back pack, string 18 can be threaded through grommets 40 and 42 to provide “shoulder straps.”

In use, it is intended that envelope 10 will be constructed in unfolded or layed-out form as illustrated in FIG. 2. Then, envelope 10 is folded into its open top form as illustrated in FIG. 4 with bag 12 being held folded into the shape of an envelope by removable or releaseable securements 58 which can be tack stitches, staples, nylon tacks or the like. Thus, the middle of bag 12 is folded about where indicated by line 60 and the bottom edge portion 62 is folded about where indicated by line 64 and then bottom edge portion 62 of bag 12 is tucked into the open top 66 of envelope 10. It will be appreciated that, bag 12 has more than twice the interior volume than envelope 10. It will also be appreciated that in the form shown in FIG. 4, the interior space 68 of envelope 10 can be easily stuffed with material 70 for mailing or shipping.

Material inside envelope 10 is sealed therein by means of removable sealing flap 14. It is intended that envelope 10 will be mailed or shipped to a recipient who will first open the envelope to extract its contents and then convert the envelope to a back pack by tearing off sealing flap 14 and mailing label 16.

Now referring to FIG. 5, an alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown and indicated generally by the numeral 100. Envelope 100 is analogous to envelope 10 except envelope 100 is constructed to be converted into a tote bag rather than a back pack. Thus, envelope 100 does not have a draw string or tubular channels for carrying a draw string and does not have grommets. Instead, envelope 100 is provided with a pair of straps, strap 102 and strap 104. Opposite ends 106 and 108 of strap 102 are attached near the open top of bag 110 to back panel 112 by stitching. Opposite ends 114 and 116 of strap 104 are attached to the front panel of bag 110 near its open top. During use of envelope 100 as a shipping envelope, the straps are stored in the interior of bag 110.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention is subject to modification and variation. For example, various parts of the present invention are shown and described as attached by stitching but can alternatively be attached by suitable adhesives. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention be limited only by the following claims. 

1. A convertible envelope adapted to be used as a shipping envelope and then converted to a carrying bag, said envelope comprising: a. a foldable bag having front and back panels with side edges and having an open top and a closed bottom portion; b. a top flap with one edge portion removably secured to one of said front and back panels proximate to said open top and another edge portion carrying an adhesive; c. a removable shipping label secured to one of said front and back panels; said foldable bag being folded into an envelope with an open top having said closed bottom portion tucked therein, said bag being held in folded configuration along said side edges by removable securements.
 2. A convertible envelope as in claim 1 wherein said front and back panels have tubular channels proximate to said open top of said bag for carrying a draw string.
 3. A convertible envelope as in claim 2 wherein said bag has two bottom corner areas with a grommet positioned in each said corner area.
 4. A convertible envelope as in claim 1, wherein a strap handle is secured to each of said front and back panels proximate to said open top.
 5. A convertible envelope as in claim 1 wherein said top flap is secured to one of said front and back panels by stitching.
 6. A convertible envelope as in claim 1 wherein said shipping label is secured to one of said front and back panels by stitching.
 7. A convertible envelope adapted to be used as a shipping container and then converted to a carrying bag, said envelope comprising: a. a foldable bag having an open top, front and back panels and closed side edges and a closed bottom, said bag being folded into an envelope with an open top having said closed bottom tucked therein, said bag being held folded by releasable securements along sides thereof; b. a top flap with one edge portion removably stitchedly secured to one of said front and back panels and another edge portion carrying a strip of adhesive tape; c. a removable shipping label removably stitchedly secured to one of said front and back panels.
 8. A convertible envelope as in claim 7 wherein said front and back panels have tubular channels proximate to said open top of said bag for carrying a draw string.
 9. A convertible envelope as in claim 8 wherein said bag has two bottom corner areas with a grommet positioned in each said corner area.
 10. A convertible envelope as in claim 7, wherein a strap handle is secured to each of said front and back panels proximate to said open top. 